My name is Bryanna Price and I am a Mechanical Engineering Major. This will be my second year at UCF. In 2022, I graduated from Fort Pierce Westwood Academy in Fort Pierce, Florida. One of my favorite classes at UCF was (surprisingly) Cultural Anthropology, which I took with Professor Russell Manzano in my first semester at UCF. I took this course to satisfy my general education credits and even though my major is engineering, I really enjoyed this class because it exposed me to new and exciting knowledge that I wouldn’t get to learn in my STEM courses. Although Professor Manzano was a favorite of mine, I have to give the title to Dr. Zaurin who taught my Statics course in my second semester at UCF. Dr. Zaurin was passionate about the material and did everything he could to ensure that his students understood the material and passed the class. His lectures are very enjoyable and worth attending because he has a great sense of humor and relies heavily on class participation to get to know his students better. I decided to get involved with the GEMS Program because I don’t believe in leaving others in the dark. I was nervous going into my freshman year at UCF, but having a mentor who has been in that position before guiding me through it was very comforting. If people already know how to navigate through college, why not share it with others so that they can too? I expect to be more confident in giving advice and I expect my mentees to be more confident going forward in life. One piece of advice for incoming EXCEL freshman that I have is to plan on making friends in this program because they will most likely stick with you throughout your college journey and throughout your career. Having those connections is important for succeeding in your respective major and career. Aside from my studies, I like to go out with friends, drive around listening to music, and spending time at the theme parks.